Ephesians 2:8

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8 NKJV).

So many people think that salvation is through faith in Christ.  While faith certainly is pertinent to our salvation experience, it is not what saves us.  Paul clearly says that we are saved by God’s grace.  Faith simply accesses that grace. 

It may sound like I am haggling over semantics, but that’s not the case.  There is a good reason to separate out grace from faith in this profound truth – just as the Apostle Paul did for the Ephesians.   To understand why this is so important, we need to consider for a moment what we have been saved from.  Many people would say Hell, but that is merely a by-product of our salvation.  We have been saved from sin and its consequences, one of which is Hell.  This matters when you consider the difference between a life that reflects salvation from sin and one that simply reflects living by faith. 

Think about it this way - many people today have faith.  They believe in all kinds of things that will do absolutely nothing for them when it comes to reconciliation with God and salvation from sin.  They live according to their faith.  If they have faith that there is no God, then they live as if there is no God. If they have faith in the “Universe,” then they live with all kinds of superstitious practices that range from the occult to just plain weird and ignorant. 

Now let’s get personal for those of us who consider ourselves as “Christians.”  If we don’t separate out the difference here between faith and grace, we can have faith in Jesus, but never access the grace that is available in Christ to live in freedom from sin.  Then, we will be living by faith in a religion built around the idea of Christ, but not demonstrating the power of the very heart and soul of the doctrine of Christ.  Paul warned Timothy about this type of a believer:

They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! (2 Timothy 3:5 NLT).

That’s the danger in not fully understanding the implications of the grace by which we are saved.  It is only when a man or woman lives by faith in the grace of God that Paul told Titus in Chapter 2 of that book, “teaches us to say no to unrighteousness,” that we clearly see salvation demonstrated in a tangible way.  It looks like this:

 But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:  that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:20-24 NKJV).

Salvation is an invisible transaction between earth and Heaven that should have a visible appearance in the life of a believer.  Otherwise, we may be using our “faith,” to access something much less than God’s full measure of Christ.

Today I trust in the grace of God to help me walk in a way that demonstrates a life that has been saved from sin.

Be sure to check out Gennarino’s devotion on Ephesians 2:8.